ATT: Good Boy
by hotchityhotchhotch
Summary: Oneshot tie-in to All This Time. Summary is inside to avoid spoiling those who haven't read/finished ATT. COMPLETE.


**Summary: The family is faced with the task of putting Mitch to sleep after an ongoing illness.**

**Age Guide: Hotch: 63; Emily: 58; Sean: 48; Jack: 23; Henry: 20; Charlotte: 18; Ben & Ryan: 16**

**Spring 2029**

Hotch held the front door open for Mitch, who made his way slowly and painfully through it. Even if he hadn't already been well-trained never to run off, he wouldn't have needed a leash anymore.

"Ohh, my poor baby," Emily cooed, crouching down to scratch the family pet by the ears. "What did _this_ vet say?" she asked.

Just then, Jack, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte, and Henry came scrambling up or down stairs until they were all in the foyer, greeting the sick dog. Hotch eyed Emily meaningfully. "They still can't tell," he said. "Just getting old and slow, I guess. Hey, Charlie, did your cap and gown come in?"

Charlotte eyed Mitch worriedly and nodded.

"Don't worry, he'll be just fine," Hotch reassured her. "Go get your things, I want to see."

"They look just like Jack's and Henry's did, but red instead of black," Charlotte said morosely with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I still want to see," Hotch said softly. "Guys, go finish up dinner for your mom," he said to the boys.

"What did he really say?" Emily asked with wide, fearful eyes while Mitch licked her hand.

"Let's wait until we go to bed," Hotch said quietly, waiting until Emily stood so he could give her a peck on the lips. "What's for dinner? I smell potatoes."

—

"Come on, sweetie," Emily encouraged the dog, who stood at the foot of the bed and looked at it with longing. "You can do it. Come see Mommy."

"He can't do it on his own anymore, let's not push him," Hotch said, shutting off the bathroom light on his way out. "C'mon, buddy."

"Careful with your back," Emily warned him while Hotch hoisted Mitch up onto the bed. The dog stepped carefully to the head of the bed and curled up on Hotch's pillow.

Emily laughed. "Every single night."

"Up," Hotch said firmly to the dog, who obeyed and reclaimed his proper spot at the foot of the bed, though not without a struggle.

"Ohh," Emily said, her hand to her heart and her eyes watering. "Okay, tell me what the vet really said."

Hotch crawled in next to Emily and sighed. "He's got a few masses here and there. He thinks it's lymphoma. On top of the arthritis we already knew about."

Emily was already misty-eyed as she leaned forward to scratch Mitch's ears again. Hotch ran his hand up and down her back. "Can they do anything?" she asked.

"Nothing that would cure him. Just prolong his life a little. He's not strong enough to bounce back from major surgery, he said. And…not to sound cold, but it would be expensive. If it could cure him, then I'd dip into savings without a question. But…if it'd only buy us a few more months and he'd be in pain the whole time…"

"We should think seriously about putting him down, then. He's been sick for so long now. We should put him out of his misery."

"I agree, just not right now," Hotch said. "Charlie's graduating this weekend. We can't do that to her. It'll destroy her. We can talk all we want about how he's the family dog, but he slept in _her_ room almost every night once we stopped crating him. All the way until she got old enough to sleep with her door shut and he started sleeping in here and trying to steal my spot every night. We've had him since before she can remember. We can't throw this on her right now."

"So how long do we wait? Until after her graduation party? That's three weeks from now. I think we just need to get it done," Emily said frankly.

"Let's do it after commencement, then," Hotch said, pulling Emily to his chest. "Give Charlie some time to recover before her party. Give everyone some time to recover."

Emily's sniffles brought Hotch to tears as well. "As much as this hurts, I'm so glad you talked me into getting a dog. He's been such a good boy."

Hotch left a kiss on his wife's temple and gave her back a firmer rub. "He has."

At that, Mitch whined and struggled onto all fours to get off the bed. Hotch hurried to help him down. "Gotta go outside, buddy?" he asked. Mitch ambled toward the closed bedroom door and wagged his tail. Hotch looked back to Emily and offered a pacifying grin. "Be right back."

—

Charlotte smiled proudly for yet another picture with her grandparents, both of whom moved very slowly these days. She then finally took off her cap and gown to sit down to a pricy meal with her entire family.

"I'm so proud of you, Charlie," Hotch said for the umpteenth time, catching her before she sat and wrapping her up in his arms. She was still so short, even with high heels, that he had to duck a little to place a kiss on top of her head.

"Thanks, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you, too." Hotch's heart swelled with pride as his only little girl took a seat between her two eldest brothers.

As happy as Hotch was to see his daughter reach this milestone, his mind drifted back home, where their beloved friend lay all alone, getting sicker by the day.

"So, Daddy," Charlotte said sweetly from across the table once the dessert plates were being cleared.

Hotch snapped out of his daze. "Yeah, honey?"

"Where are you hiding the keys to my new car?"

"Don't start," Emily said shortly. "I don't care if all your friends are getting new cars, we don't have that kind of money sitting around. Be happy with what you have."

"Mom, chill out I was just joking," Charlotte said uneasily, sitting back in her seat. "What's wrong?" she asked both her parents warily.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm just a little on edge, I don't know why. It's been a long day," Emily said. "Let's get you home, Mom and Dad, it's getting late."

Hotch offered to drive Emily's parents home, getting home himself a half hour after everyone else. He expected to see everyone settling in, as it had indeed been a long day, but what he found instead was a living room full of five red-eyed children and their mother passing around a box of tissues. Mitch lay on his side on the carpet, taking short shallow breaths while Emily gave his tummy soothing strokes. "What happened?" Hotch asked Emily.

"We got home and he'd…gone to the bathroom lying down and hadn't been able to move," Emily said delicately. "I had to tell the kids what the vet said."

It was with a heavy heart that Hotch realized how soon they needed to take action. "His vet gave me the number for an emergency clinic. I'll give them a call and take him in tonight."

"No!" all the not-so-young children said together.

"Not yet," Charlotte said more clearly. "We just found out."

Hotch looked to Emily for help. "Let's all spend time with him tonight and one of us will take him in tomorrow," she decided.

"Can we feed him ice cream?" Henry asked.

Emily couldn't help but laugh faintly through her tears. "Sure, if he'll eat it. He can have whatever he wants."

—

"Are you sure? I can do it," Hotch said to Emily after a very long night spent downstairs with a dying dog. Sean had come by to bid his own farewell and the children had all gone up to bed eventually, but Hotch and Emily had slept on the couch and loveseat, as Mitch was too weak to climb the stairs and in too much pain to be carried.

Emily shook her head and retrieved the dog's leash. "It's okay, I kind of…want to. Not that I _want _to, but you know what I mean." Her eyes already stung with the knowledge of what she was about to do. "Besides, someone's going to need to take the heat from the kids."

Mitch's health had plummeted even further overnight, leaving the living room carpet a mess. Hotch and Emily had planned on letting the children say goodbye one last time, but they had all loved on the dog plenty the night before and had stayed up quite late to do so. They decided it was best to let the children rest instead of prolonging their pain.

"Okay, if you're sure," Hotch said guardedly.

"And not that Charlotte has the ability to hate you, but it's better to risk it with me being the bad guy and not you." Emily said this without bitterness.

"You always fall back on that, you know," Hotch said. "You think just because Charlie and I have a close relationship, that she can't stand you. She adores you."

"Then never mind my argument. My decision still stands, though," Emily said somewhat impatiently. "I want to be there for him when he goes."

"Okay," Hotch whispered. "Open up the doors and I'll carry him to the car."

—

Mitch whined in the examination room, familiar with the surroundings, remembering the unpleasant poking and prodding that usually accompanied visits to this kind of environment.

"It's okay," Emily whispered to him. She put down her purse and sat down on the floor with the dog while they waited for the veterinarian. "It's okay, Mommy's here. C'mere, Skittles." She picked up his chin and looked into his eyes. "I'm so sorry we didn't take better care of you, that we didn't find out what was wrong with you sooner. You deserved so much better than that," she choked. "But—but I guess fourteen years is a good long life for such a big dog, isn't it? You've been such a good boy. Thank you so much, for everything."

The dog ceased his whining and went back to panting. The veterinarian came in and offered to lay Mitch on the cold metal table, but Emily insisted on staying on the floor. The dog's big brown eyes called out to her while the strange people shaved fur from above his paw and inserted a needle. Emily leaned down and buried her face in his fluffy neck, reaching as far around him as she could.

"Are you ready?" the veterinarian asked politely.

Emily nodded and hiccupped into Mitch's fur. He was only two years younger than her youngest children, who themselves were already looking at college applications. Mitch had indeed been blessed with a long life, but ever since last night, Emily had been plagued with the feeling that there was so much more she could have done for him but hadn't. She couldn't put a finger on what exactly that was, which made the guilt that much harder to shake.

Mitch's panting stopped altogether before Emily knew it. The veterinarian checked for a heartbeat, confirmed there was none, and asked Emily if she would like a moment. Emily nodded through a mess of tears and hugged the dog's lifeless body. Words failed her, though, so after she convinced herself that her youngest was at peace, that she'd done the right thing, she made her way home.

It was a mournful and lazy day at the house. Luckily, none of the children went on tirades against either Emily or Hotch for taking the dog in without giving everyone one final chance to say goodbye. They were simply too sick with misery to muster up any real anger. Charlotte even surprised Emily, sitting next to her and putting an arm around her mom on the couch while her favored parent was off getting carry-out for dinner. Emily smiled and gave her daughter a hug before turning her eyes back to the television.

"Remember when he got loose on Ben and Ryan's first day riding the bus and chased it for like a mile?" Jack remembered aloud. Everyone laughed at the memory.

"Or when he bit Charlie's boyfriend in the nuts?" Henry said.

Emily grasped the top of Henry's head and shook it. "Don't talk like that," she chided.

"And that was _not_ funny," Charlotte added. "But it was funny when hid in my room every Fourth of July because of the fireworks, and there'd be hair everywhere."

"Only funny because you'd make us vacuum it up," Ben spat.

The family sans husband and father shared a good chuckle over the fond memories and were still sharing more of them when dinner arrived.

"Mitch loved chicken fried rice," Jack noted as the family dug in to dinner around the table.

"He'd eat anything," Ryan pointed out. "Remember? He tore open that quilt on Charlie's bed and ate all the stuffing."

Everyone got in another good laugh and finished the meal with more memories, most of them humorous. Full of carbohydrates and empty after an emotionally draining day, the children all called it quits and headed to their bedrooms before the sun was even close to setting. Hotch and Emily were tired as well, but preferred to use the last hour of good sunlight to take a walk around the neighborhood.

"You okay?" Hotch asked, giving Emily's cold hand a squeeze.

"I think so," she said, squeezing right back. Hotch slung an arm over her shoulder so she reached around his waist as they walked. "He was such a good dog…I'm gonna miss him."

"Me, too." After doing one silent lap around the lush green neighborhood and starting another, Hotch said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Every once in a while I'd hear you call him Skittles, when you thought no one was listening. What's that all about?"

Emily chuckled. "I suppose I could explain the Skittles theory to you after all this time."

"There's a theory?"

"Thanks to Garcia. When, umm…when you and I finally got together for good, remember how I was all insecure about having our own kids because I thought it would make the first three feel less loved?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well," Emily continued, "when I explained it to Garcia one night, she told me that you and I having a baby together would just be like adding another color to a bag of Skittles. And I always think about that when I see how tightly knit our family is, and I'm so thankful. And when we got Mitch and Jack asked what his last name would be, I thought, this could be the one part of the family that kind of ties everything together. So I wanted him to have all three last names. Just so I could always, I don't know, be reminded of how it doesn't matter where any of us came from. I think that's why I needed to be there with him in the end. What he brought to this family was so important to me, you know?"

Hotch was left speechless by Emily's revelation. He wasn't so much shocked by the discovery that Skittles had had something to do with Garcia—after all, he did remember Garcia mentioning it once or twice—but he had never realized how insecure Emily had remained of their children's origins over the last sixteen years. "You still worry about all of that?" he asked her.

Emily rubbed Hotch's side briskly. "No. Not anymore. Even now that he's gone, our kids all love each other just the same, love us just the same. His name was just a symbol. I guess it was silly for me ever to worry about that, but I'm a mom. It's part of the job description, right?"

Hotch grinned and kissed the part of Emily's hair. "Right." They walked a while longer, eventually shifting to hand-in-hand strolling again. "Think we'll be able to handle another dog someday?"

Emily shook her head. "I can't. Things are no less crazy around the house even with the kids all in school. I just don't have the energy and neither do you."

"What about a fully grown dog from the humane society? One that's really mellow?" Hotch suggested.

"Aaron, I love you, but it's too soon for me to think about this, really. Can we just shelve this conversation for a while?"

"Sure. Sorry." Hotch turned up their driveway and Emily followed. "I suppose I can live with not having to kick someone out of my spot every night."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! If you're wondering why on earth I would write a whole story about this, it's because we had to put my dog down earlier this week and I thought this would be a nice way to deal with my feelings. Dogs are such a gift, which is why it's so hard to say goodbye.**

**Please leave a review, if you'd be so kind :)**


End file.
